The 3 B's- Beauty, Brains and Bravery

Chapter 341: He wasn't deaf

Xi Yuan still remembered the day Elena had died. He was in coincidentally City M then. He had never seen Sun Cheng so distressed, so helpless before. He wasn't stable. Neither emotionally, nor mentally. Elena and he had a love marriage three years after they had met in Chicago. The two were crazy for each other. So when the girl left him, Sun Cheng was beyond traumatized. He wasn't in any state to deal with the hospital paperwork or the death rituals. 

At that time, Xi Yuan had managed Elena's cremation, and her medical reports, and the hospital finances. All by himself. Sun Cheng had been a close friend to him, after all. It was then that he had found out about Elena's pregnancy. He couldn't imagine how his friend would've digested the news then. 'It is better for him to not know', he had figured. Since then, he had kept the secret caged inside his heart.

It was only when Rong Xinghe had asked him did he spoke of it. There was no point hiding it from her. She could read him anyway. Like the back of her hand. Most importantly, she was his woman. She knew what to do with his secrets, better than anyone. Even himself.

"I don't know, Xinghe.", the man sighed, "I am not sure about this. I mean, isn't it all in the past now? He might not be able to handle the truth. You tell me. What do you think about it?"

"I feel that he needs to know. I've been kept in the dark about Mom and Dad's death for years, Yuan. And it hurts. It hurt that my brothers lied to me. More than the truth itself.

"I understand their reasons. And I love them for looking out for me. But it still hurts. Even if the others have your best interests at heart. 

"Sun Cheng should know, Yuan. In fact, it would be better if you tell him personally. Others might fabricate the truth. And I won't be able to see him hate you. You don't have many friends, so hold onto the ones you have. They are worth being held onto, you know.", the girl answered after thinking for some time. 

"I get it.", the man nodded, "I will give him a call later. Or maybe a video call."

"By the way, what would you have done if you were in his shoes?", the girl rested her head against the black leather seat and closed her eyes, "If some other woman was to create differences between us, how would you handle it?" 

Xi Yuan became silent. He thought about it. He couldn't imagine Rong Xinghe leaving him like that. He could accept her rage or even her dislike towards him. But the possibility of her never coming back, the possibility of her death... was frightening. And unacceptable. He could never make peace with that. 

"Firstly, I do not allow you to even consider leaving me like how Elena left Cheng. No matter what happens Xinghe, you aren't permitted to punish me like that.", the man took a deep breath, "You should know how important your every breath is, how important your life is. Your brothers and the public of this country look up to you. So do not think of suicide. Ever."

"Okay, okay.", the girl's smile faded. She could tell he was scared. The uncertainty in his voice gave that away. Although unintentionally, she had made him think of the worst. That must've made him feel horrible, she thought. Subconsciously, her heart ached for him. "I will never do it. I won't end my life. I promise."

As he listened to her soft voice reassuring him, the man finally let out the breath he was holding for who knows how long. As long as they were on the same page about that... it was all good. 

"Secondly...", he continued with a smile across his lips this time, "You should know how stubborn I am. I kept pursuing you, even after you rejected me in New York. Remember? 

"I would've done everything to win you back. I would've fought for you. And I wouldn't have stopped until you listened to me. I wouldn't have accepted defeat. There was no way I would've allowed an outsider to just walk into our lives and ruin 'us'."

Hearing that brought peace to her heart. Xi Yuan was one of the most sought-after businessmen across the globe. Naturally, he had self-esteem as high as that of the California redwoods. Even so, he didn't care about his ego when it came to protecting their relationship. He'd rather bow down to her than letting her go. That was why she loved him. Even if she was to give up on them someday, he would never do it. 

"Thirdly...", he resumed, "I would never let someone like Qui Chin carry my child. I would've had it aborted."

"You... Don't you think it would've been heartless? To hurt an innocent unborn?", the girl frowned.

"An innocent unborn whose heart hadn't started beating, and whose fingers wouldn't have shaped by then. Xinghe, I have never allowed my emotions to control me. Not until I met you. In front of you, I lose control.

"But I wouldn't have destroyed the child's life like that. Especially when I knew I could never give it the love a father was supposed to provide."

"Got it.", the girl replied. That was understandable and rational. A loveless upbringing was worse than abortions, she could agree with her darling on that. 

"What is it?", the man laughed, "I know you still have more questions." He could hear it. He knew it.

Rong Xinghe smiled tiredly, looking out of the window, dazed, "I was just wondering if you would you abort our child too if I were pregnant right now?"

Before Xi Yuan could reply to the question, he heard a loud screeching sound of the tires, and then of someone swearing and hitting onto the breaks. It didn't take the couple too long to realize that Xi Wei had been listening to their conversation all along. Silently. Too focussed on his driving to pass any comments. But that didn't, in any way implied, that he was deaf. Did it?

Worse of all, he didn't know that Xi Yuan and Rong Xinghe hadn't yet taken the 'step' in their relationship. That they hadn't been sexually involved with each other yet, and that they were still taking it slow. Baby steps. One at a time. 

As the series of cars following behind the man's SUV crashed into each other, the motorists and the passengers stepped down their vehicles, frustrated and enraged. They surrounded the man's car and started banging onto the 'not so see-through' window glass connected to the driver's seat, cursing him. 

Paying no heed to the insensed public, Xi Wei turned to look at his Sister-in-law, his eyes wide open. "You are pregnant?!", he gasped.